Since the UK graffiti writer Tox was sentenced to 27 months in prison a couple of weeks ago, there’s been some controversy drummed up about Tox between HurtYouBad, Don’t Panic, Channel4 and Ser. As I mentioned last month, Don’t Panic and Channel4 a hosting a competition where people could contribute design ideas and the winners could get their ideas made into a mural. Someone clever submitted a design by Tox. Naturally, that design got the most votes by a mile. And yet, he did not win. This thing did. HurtYouBad explains just how absurd that choice was. Oddly enough, while Ser was supposedly meant to be the judge who helped to determine the winner, he was overruled by the contest organizers. So I guess Channel4 and Don’t Panic didn’t actually want a competition. They just wanted some design ideas. By all rights, as silly as this competition might seem to many people, Tox should have won, if only to bring more attention to this absurd jail sentence.
So yeah, lame job Channel4. Don’t ask for street art and graffiti and then reject any real graffiti that you see. You could have helped draw attention to someone’s unjust legal troubles. Instead, you ignored him.
Photo by RJ Rushmore